This week, President Donald Trump called for a coup. Most American’s barely noticed. I expected big, above-the-fold drama, but there was none of that. It was mentioned, but in small type, and mostly in passing. Three weeks before the election he’s losing, and Trump called for the Department of Justice to imprison his political opponents.
I’m sorry, but that is what a coup looks like.
So, think about our indifference: no surprise, no outrage, and little objection. I’d have hoped for more condemnation. We all knew what was coming. Now Trump rushes out his all-cap tweets calling for someone — please god someone! — should arrest his Democratic opponents. And while some of the political class emoted for their audiences, most of us only shrugged.
Trump and Vice President Mike Pence have both said they don’t object to violence if they lose. Trump told his far-right terrorist groups — on national television — to ‘stand by,’ to intimidate voters, and that violence is an option. It’s hard to see beyond that kind of agitation. But we accept it anyway.
This isn’t a new level of attack. Trump has been calling “Lock them up” for Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama since 2016. “That’s just Trump,” we said as if that meant he wasn’t serious. And Trump quietly eggs on the QAnon devotees, hoping for The Storm, their own violent war.
That’s not normal. This is what a building coup looks like.
Does the idea of resistance leave you tired? Thinking about Trump is exhausting me. I see Trump attacking the rule of law — successfully — I and shrug. It must be another day ending in ‘y.’ How can this be the beginning of a coup?
I know that fact-checking is pointless, but I can’t help myself.
Democrats and Republicans on the Senate Intelligence Committee previously rejected the assessment for not containing factual information.
In a letter to Senator Lindsey Graham, [Director of National Intelligence] Ratcliffe noted that the Intelligence Committee did not know the “accuracy of this allegation or the extent to which the Russian intelligence analysis may reflect exaggeration or fabrication.”
— The Grio, Oct. 8, 2020 “Trump calls for Biden to be indicted with just days before the election“
“Well,” DNI Ratcliffe shrugged, “I supposed it might be fabricated agitprop from Russian Intelligence trying to damage American democracy. I don’t see that as a problem….”
Marvelous.
We have all watched as President Trump slowly beat America to death. We know what’s happening. Trump attacks every restriction on his power, and it works. He may not win each battle, but every blow leaves us bruised, weaker, and more vulnerable. That’s the point. When Trump attacks every independent, non-partisan group, doing his best to corrode whatever respect they have. Every new explosion pushes the democratic restrictions on his absolute power a little further out of his way.
The Republican Party is fully behind him. Some Republicans lament in private, but they stay mute when they might make any difference. How brave of them. No, they allow him each violation. And Trump times his nonsense perfectly: every day’s new outrage bumps our previous anger from our minds. We forget, even as each additional attack degrades what’s left of the American experiment.
Remember that this isn’t new. Trump didn’t invent any of this. He’s more dramatic and he moves faster, but Trump is using the Republican Party toolkit. And it works for him just the way it worked for the GOP. Ever since Nixon, the Republican Party decided that disingenuous attacks, slander, racism, and blatant manipulation were their new toolkit.
It’s easy to forget the details. How long has it been since the IRS stopped investigating tax fraud by the rich and powerful? That’s been a huge Republican goal for decades. The Federal Trade Commission doesn’t protect trade from monopolies long ago. The Republicans have given the U.S. Patent and Trade Office over to the rich and powerful industries they’re supposed to regulate. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration might have gone home for all I can tell. Does anyone want to argue how well the Consumer Product Safety Commission or the Consumer Financial Bureau are fulfilling their core functions?
Trump has gone further, of course, subverting entire agencies. He’s compromised the Department of Labor, the Department of Justice, the Internal Revenue Service, the Environmental Protection Agency, and, yes, the Department of the Interior. Trump installs industry apparatchiks in charge of each.
I didn’t see any Republicans suggest this wasn’t exactly what they wanted. Trump’s following in the footsteps of every recent Republican administration. Remember Interior Secretary James Watt under Reagan. This isn’t new.
“Treason” means taking up arms against the nation or giving aid to the enemy. Who has taken up arms against the nation since South Carolina succeeded? Well, yes, Trump’s Proud Boys if they interfere with the vote while armed.
I know we’re all numb to outrage. Me, too; I fully understand. But we’re being played, and apathy is their goal. Trump wants us to stop watching what he does, or at least stop caring. He didn’t make this up, either. Trump’s using the Republican Party subversion toolkit. It works so well because the GOP has been fine-tuning their approach since Nixon was in office.
This is the point we should be scared. I know it feels like your mind is wrapped in thick dirty cotton, but don’t ignore that spike of concern. Trump is serious because he’s always serious. Trump doesn’t joke because he doesn’t understand the concept. (Shouting his petty, vindictive attacks during another campaign rally and then smirking is as close as Trump gets to a sense of humor.) And the king of projection routinely blurts out what he really means. When he calls for a coup, that’s exactly what he means.
The media suggested that President Trump might be suffering from the powerful steroids he’s taking for COVID-19. Several observers speculated that the feelings of invincibility from high steroid doses might be distorting the President’s actions.
Imagine how jaded we’ve become when “Too many strong drugs” is the best alternative. Besides, we’re just making excuses again. We all know that Trump is honestly and openly calling for the political arrests, followed by silencing the press. Again, Trump tells us what he means.
So far, the Department of Justice reports they aren’t following the President’s explicit direction yet. We shouldn’t overreact, they tell us, even as Trump continues his attacks on the DOJ during long Fox News call-ins. No need to panic, we’re told, because AG Barr is at the controls.
I panic merely looking at those words. Barr’s only calculation is whether the DOJ will follow his orders, and Barr can get away with it. What will we do when Barr decides it might work?
Here’s a scenario. The election draws near, and Trump’s numbers look bad. The far-right White Nationalist groups who Trump coddles step up their intimidation and violence on civilians. Their stated goal for this terrorism is to trigger their beloved race war and restart the Civil War. The Proud Boys, neo-Nazis, and the various boogaloo movements decide to follow Trump’s orders to intimidate voters to sabotage the election. Peaceful protests come under fire both by external militias and by the far-right racist zealots who’ve been infiltrating the police forces since Reconstruction. Fox and OAN fill their hours with endless video of random violence they falsely blame on “The Antifa” (an organization that still doesn’t exist.)
In this scenario, Attorney General William Barr issues arrest orders for many people, including Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, or both. What will we do? By the time we decide to defend America from the coup, will it be too late? If you’re planning a revolution, the primary goal is to consolidate power before people understand the full risk.
We shrug. Yes, but Trump has been building his coup for years. It’s no secret; he’s been doing it right in front of us. If Trump’s attacks were a true threat, wouldn’t someone have stopped him before this? How can this moment be critical?
We don’t believe that a coup is possible in America. It’s intellectually impossible to accept. Because we cannot envision it, we assume it can’t happen. I’d love that to be true, but it isn’t. We’ve seen other democracies fail, and they looked like we do now. They looked like us. They couldn’t imagine their system failing, either.
I understand that it’s hard to know when to act, what’s the right point. That’s how coups work. The successful ones, at least.
